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Saturday, June 5, 2010

World Environment Day 2010: Celebrate, Mourn...Organize!

If you are in or near Delhi, there are plenty of things you can to to celebrate World Environment Day, which is happening today itself. The Times of India tells us how to "Go Green: Shop Eat Watch Gift". Their list of weekend events is here. Or try this list of events from around India.

Those who profess undying faith in the power of technology to save us from our follies might want to ignore how utterly helpless BP and the US government have been to plug just one underwater leak. Problem is, that leak is getting harder to ignore, because it’s spreading oil over such a large and sensitive area. Sensitive environmentally, sensitive economically and, most of all, sensitive politically. To see just how large the spill is, take a look at this graphic. (Thanks Amruta). Or this interactive map from the NY Times.

But as bad as that looks, there’s another story that we aren’t getting. You see, in the eyes of large corporations, powerful countries and the mainstream media, not all the wold’s regions are as …sensitiveas the US coast. Last week, the Guardian's John Vidal reminded us that in many less “important” places, such as the Niger delta, oil spills are a regular occurrence. (In this article, he looks at the issue in more depth. You won't find an interactive map there, but it's worth reading.)

These spills are ignored, because they affect only poor countries and/or poor people. Of course this is part of what makes oil as cheap as it is; if we enforced the same safety standards world wide that are enforced in the richer countries, oil prices would rise dramatically and alternative sources of energy would become more attractive. A lot of people don’t want that to happen, for a lot of reasons.

Among all the bad news last week, I did see one heartening story. Writing in the Economic Times, M. Rajshekhar reports on a government health care initiative that seems to be making a real difference in Chhattisgarh, of all places. It seems that the program, which depends on an army of 60,000 volunteer healthcare workers who also function as advocates and activists, has resulted in more responsive doctors and more functioning health centers. Infant mortality in the state is down from 95 per 1000 in 2000 to 44 per 1000 in 2009. Rajshekhar reminds us that health care programs alone will not make people healthy; for that, you need to do things like reduce poverty and improve nutrition. But this story does remind us that government can make a difference in the lives of people and that progress is not impossible, even in these difficult times. It takes leadership and some honest officials, of course, but most of all it takes the involvement of everyday people.

So maybe the message this World Environment Day should be something like this: whether you celebrate or mourn is up to you. But whatever you do, don’t forget to organize. With as big a mess as the world is in these days, it's going to take a lot of us to clean it up!

Once again the point comes up that we're not paying the full cost of oil. If BP has spect $1 billion as they claim, imagine what investment into green energy could have been made with that same money!

The US is now trying to raise the liability of oil companies to $10 billion up from just $75 million - a proposal that some senators are trying to block. Reminds me of the nuclear liability bill and how low it is in India. Imagine if there was the equivalent of the Bhopal disaster in the US?

But there's nothing really new here. We always knew that the lives of poor people are worth less to the rich. We just have to get used to that fact and the only way it'll change is if those poor people get some power themselves.

@Bhagwad, You are right--alternatives look as expensive as they do partly because oil gets massive subsidies. And it's true about the parallels to the nuclear liability bill. The cost of these disasters can be higher than we imagine.

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Hari Batti

Hari Batti's Green Light Dhaba

Hari Batti's Green Light Dhaba is based in Delhi and serves up fresh thinking about the environment, politics and justice. We're open Tuesdays, Thursdays and most Saturdays. If we're not pissing somebody off, we're not doing our job. If this is your first visit, check out our brand new About the Dhaba page and tell us what you think; that's why we're here. Of course, if you like what's on the menu, why not grab a free feed or follow us? You can also friend Hari on Facebook, follow him on twitter-- and spread the word in whatever way you can!